Local News

Log Lane Village public works in new hands

Cody Hishinuma hopes to stay with town long term

About one month in, Cody Hishinuma is settling into his job as Log Lane Village's lone public works employee.

He started with the town Dec. 7, 2017, with the Log Lane Board of Trustees approving hiring him full time for public works and maintenance on Dec. 14.

Since then, Hishinuma has been learning everything he can about the town and tackling as many projects on the to-do list as he can.

"I'm very excited about it," he said of having that responsibility for getting the town caught up on its projects. "I've worked in a town setting before, and it's pretty fun."

The 22-year-old Hishinuma previously had worked for the town of Eads in the public works department there, as well as in a grocery store in Eads and as an apprentice electrician.

But not long ago, he moved to Fort Morgan from Eads with his wife, Katie, to look for a better job. They also now have a 1-month-old son, Michael.

A job opportunity popped up when Hishinuma saw an opening with Log Lane Village public works. That sounded like something that could be the right fit for him, since he had some municipal public works experience.

"It was a job I applied for and got," he said. "Also, I did it before, working in a town setting in Eads."

Still, Hishinuma has found that there are things specific to Log Lane that he still needs to learn.

"I got to learn the water systems, the sewer," he said.

It may take some time, but Hishinuma said he intends to hit the books and seek water and wastewater operator licenses for these systems.

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"I want to do those things to benefit the town," he said.

So far Hishinuma is liking the work.

"It's fun," he said. "It's something different every day. It keeps you on your toes."

And Hishinuma's face likely will become a familiar sight for town residents as he pushes on with that to-do list, which includes things like regularly testing the town's water supply, replacing stop signs and street signs, removing dirt, debris or snow from streets, ensuring backflow prevention compliance at town businesses and lots more.

"Cody's been really jumping into it," said Town Marshal Darin Sagel, who also oversees public works for Log Lane.

"He's doing amazing," Mayor Robin Mastin said. "I'm very impressed with him. He's probably one of the best ones we've had. He's a go-getter. He's not afraid to jump in and get dirty and do things, and if he doesn't know something he's willing to learn it."

She said the town has quite a backlog of public works and general maintenance projects that the trustees have wanted to see get done, but it just never seemed to happen, Mastin said, and now she hopes Hishinuma will be able to make some headway on that list.

"He's somebody that we don't have to say, 'What were you doing today?' He's not looking for excuses on why he wasn't doing something," Mastin said.

The mayor's support bodes well for the Hishinuma, who said he is hoping to turn this job into a long-term thing.

That was very welcome news for Mastin and trustees, since there has been fairly high and frequent turnover in Log Lane's public works department in recent years.

"I hope that this is like a lifetime thing for him," Mastin said. "He's wanting to do the classes and get the licenses. I would really like for him to stay, because we've gone through a few. So far, everybody he has come in contact with, as far as the citizens has really liked him."

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